Libby McFalls
Professor
Art, Department of
Education and Certifications
MFA, Printmaking, Cranbrook Academy of Art, MI, 2001BFA, Fine Arts, Columbus College of Art & Design, OH, 1999
Biography
Elizabeth (Libby) McFalls is a Professor of Art and the Department of Art’s Art Foundation Coordinator at Columbus State University. She also holds the position of VP of Communications for Foundations of Art: Theory & Education. She received her MFA in Printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art (MI) and her BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design (OH). Raised in East Tennessee, Libby’s love of storytelling began during her childhood through attendance at the National Storytelling Festival. Her love and appreciation of oral storytelling increased over time, emphasized by the summers she and her sisters spent among extended family of five living generations. She creates nonlinear visual narratives that examine issues of loss and family. Her work explores moments, blurring the line between fact and fiction, life and death, humor and sorrow demonstrating the contradiction and complexity of life. Libby's work has been exhibited in national and international locations, including the Athica Athens Institute, South Bay Contemporary (Los Angeles), SoLA Gallery, Kai Lin Art Gallery, and Gallery 1 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Academic Areas
Art Foundations and PrintmakingResearch Interests
Artist StatementAs a practicing artist, wife, and parent areas of my life continually overlap. Rather than siloing myself into categories of “artist,” “mother,” “wife” - I revel in the duality these structures create by blurring the line between these seemingly disparate areas of work and home life. My studio practice involves our children in the creative process and allows our daily experiences to be a driving force in my work.
I approach making in a collaborative spirit by responding to my life, time limitations, successes, and failures in an intuitive fashion. My investigations examine my own limits in the various roles of my life and become, at times, an admission of shortcomings and strengths. Recently, I have begun collaborating with my children, by including their drawings in my hybrid print collages. My work does not make direct reference to the specifics of my family: rather, I think of the pieces as echoes of our time together. Abstractions, symbols, and repeated images are used to create nonlinear visual narratives that examine the contradiction and complexity of life.
To assist viewers with context, pieces often refer to ideas and images from current social, political, and cultural issues. The role of modern motherhood and family, from a woman’s perspective, has not been historically or widely represented in galleries and museums. It is a difficult role to navigate: mother and artist. I am looking to make work that does not merely reflect daily life, but also challenges the stereotype of family life. I encourage conversation and thought that critically examines the marginalization of women's role in society.
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